The Nordic energy regulators supports the move to a 15 minutes ISP, as it amongst others is expected to enable a more efficient system operation, efficient integration of renewables and a closer market integration with the rest of Europe. The Nordic NRAs expect a coordinated move to 15 minutes ISP by 18 December 2020 and are in close dialogue with the Nordic TSOs to meet this ambition.

EU Regulation 2017/2195 establishing a guideline on electricity balancing (EBGL) requires a move from the current 60 minutes imbalance settlement period (ISP) to 15 minutes ISP by 18 December 2020. A National Regulatory Authority (NRA) can decide to derogate the implementation of the 15 minutes ISP until 2025, either at its own initiative or upon request by a Transmission System Operator (TSO).

The Nordic NRAs (Danish Utility Regulator, the Finnish Energy Authority, the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, and the Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate) have so far not received a request for a derogation from their respective TSOs. Further, the Nordic NRAs have at this point in time not identified any decisive reasons to derogate and to delay the implementation of the 15 minute ISP later than 18 December 2020.

The Nordic NRAs are in close dialogue with the Nordic TSOs, with a view to identify and handle any national or regional challenges in order to meet the ambition of a coordinated implementation of a 15 minutes ISP by 18 December 2020.

Background

The requirement to implement the 15 minutes ISP stems from EBGL article 53.

EBGL article 62 sets out the conditions to derogate from the deadline in article 53.